Avenue Ale House — Restaurant in Oak Park

My last dining experience here left me for the first time feeling it was my obligation to write a review for a restaurant. I’ve been to AAH well over 30 times since I moved into the area 3 years ago. In the beginning it was great service and great food, good times all around. But at some point, it looks like management/ownership has disappeared and the wait staff is now running the house. The food has gone to at its best average. The wait staff seems to be more interested in judging how well their customer is going to tip than the service they should be providing. I know this because I have never tipped under 20 percent and at this point I have made science of calling the change in attitude of the wait staff before and after seeing their tip. Sadly at that point it’s too late for them to change my dining experience but It’s as if all of a sudden I really am worthy of their time. Various times I have even overheard the comments (jokes) the wait-staff make as said under-par service is being provided.

Before I continue, let me say that yes, it’s my fault for mistakenly taking my return business there. I was partial to it because it’s the best beer selection in the area and it has very good sized seating so wait times are non-existent. However, on 9-15-14 I regretfully decided to go there with my wife on our 2 year wedding anniversary for a few drinks after being out. We were there for about 20 minutes without anybody coming to our table until we finally inquired about it. They sent somebody over and he said he wasn’t notified about us but to me it seemed as if they were more or less deciding who would be stuck with our table (Admittedly I’m not sure of this). We each had 2 or three drinks shared a couple of appetizers and a dessert. And I then heard a comment made about how little we ordered, I’m guessing in relativity to how they expected the tip would look. I made a comment to the waiter about it to see what he would say and he just nodded it off and I heard him go back to his co-workers and repeat it as they laughed. My wife and I just brushed it off and I had her pay attention to his reaction as he looked at the tip. She was surprised to see I was correct again but she was also insulted as she realized what they think of us.

I didn’t complain to management for the same reason that I still tip well even after bad service, I don’t want to fall into the stereotype that they have me molded into. I would however like to give the current ownership some advice from a reluctantly returning customer…

To Ownership: You have security cameras, make use them. Even when your staff is not busy most costumers don’t mind that they stand around but make sure they understand that people can still hear what they say. Your longer tenured employees are not the leadership they should be but part of the problem. If this wasn’t the case you wouldn’t have issues. I’m not sure if wage is the problem but there are plenty of people that would like the opportunity and not having an empty restaurant has to be worth a look into this.

To Staff: Your customers work just as hard as you do for their money. Give them the benefit of at the very least waiting until you see a bad tip to demean them. I’m sorry for the bad experiences you may have had from other people of my or any other ethnicity but it wasn’t me that did this to you and even after your insulting treatment I still do the right thing. You really should too as after all… you’re there freely just as we are.

Somehow however, judging from the state of their business I don’t really think any of the negative comments are being taken into consideration. Sad, they could be...

I ordered oysters for an appetizer, french onion soup, rib eye steak at medium to medium-rare, and waffle fries with creamy horse radish sauce (I like to dip my fries in the H/R sauce).

I asked my server what beer she recommended to go with the oysters. This is an ale house with many, many kinds of beer. I expected the staff to be trained on beer-food pairings, or to offer to get a suggestion from someone with more knowledge & experience. Instead, she said that she didn't know which beer to pair - that she wasn't an "oyster girl". I chose a beer. The oysters came with no beer. I got half-way through the oysters and then decided that they really would go better with a beer and so waited for the beer before finishing the rest. The beer eventually came about 5-10 minutes later.

The french onion soup was tied as the 2nd worst I've had. It was bland and tasted as if it had been made from a chicken broth rather than a beef stock. It was on-par with instant onion soup from a can. However, the provolone cheese on top was nicely melted and browned.

They creamy horse-radish was actually just grated horse-radish. When I pointed that out (when the server eventually came back at the end of my meal), the server said that she must just not know what creamy horse radish sauce is.

The steak was flavorful, but too salty. I specifically asked for medium to medium-rare because I'm used to restaurants under-cooking steaks. The technique worked because it came medium-rare. Unfortunately, the steak was tough and the knife was dull. Still, I eat it all.

When bringing the food, the server said to "holler" if I needed anything. She then hung out at the bar at the exact opposite corner of the restaurant and never came back during the meal to check on things. I did want to get her attention to send back the soup and ask for "creamy" horse-radish - or to bring some mayo and/or sour-cream and I'd mix my own. I thought to actually "holler", but wasn't sure if my voice would carry to the opposite end of the bar or if it could be heard over the hockey game that was playing on the TVs over the bar. So, I finished my steak, and then pushed the dishes away, folded my hands, and waited. Someone came near that I thought might be a manager, but he just glanced at my table and kept walking.

Eventually the server had to come near to greet new customers at a table next to mine. She then came over and asked how things were. I told her and asked her to take the soup off my bill and send it back.

To her credit, she did take the soup off the bill with no argument and sent over the manager - the same person who had walked by my table earlier. The manager listen to my comments and offered another beer. I explained that I was done with my meal and ready to drive home and so didn't want another beer. That was the end of the conversation.

The place was clean. The booths were snug, but I'm not a small guy. The decor was OK. It was not crowded (

Used to be a regular. It's been a while. Went back the other day, after being away too long, for the first time under a new menu.

This used to be a place I dragged people to. Now? They changed the menu, removing the smoked gouda mac & cheese [and a bunch of other things]. The mac & cheese was my whole reason for going. It is also one of the relatively few things they did that was both insanely good and without nearby competition.

Now, they've doubled down on the pub element, and the impact that has had is clear. The place was maybe 10% to 15% capacity on a Friday night in June.

Despite that, though, I still waited in my seat for more than 20 minutes to be approached by anyone. The waiter is absolutely fine, but he may have been the only waiter they had on. Even if not, they didnt have enough. One big table and it all fell apart. The responsibility for that falls squarely on management.

That did, however, give me time to search out a consolation meal, since one of their best dishes was gone. By all means, the food was fine, for pub food. I'd eat it again. But I wouldn't seek it out. It's generic pub food. I can get that anywhere. Anyone can grill a piece of chicken and put it on a pretzel roll.

Advice to the management: If you're seeing a decline in customers, it's probably for the above reasons. You're understaffed to the point where I almost walked out before anyone had come by. You removed "dinner" / "sit down restaurant" stuff from your menu in an effort to be more of a pub, thereby tossing out an entire reason to go. You removed the things that made the place unique, thereby removing your status as "the only place with the thing I like". And despite doubling down on the pub aspect of it all, we got the wrong drink menu at first, and then, we had to cycle through several things you were out of before finding an option you had.

You're ruining the restaurant by trying too hard to be a pub, and you're not helping the pub by being...